Juniper forests of ziarat in danger

1. Junipers in danger
(Ziarat)

2. • Pakistan suffers far more severe forest
scarcities than most other countries in South Asia.
Its natural forest assets are too small, with forest area and
national land utilization figures ranging from 3.1% (Anon., 2003)
to 3.6% of total land area (Khan, 2002).
• Pakistan suffers far more severe forest
scarcities than most other countries in South Asia. Its
natural forest assets are too small, with forest area and
national land utilization figures ranging from 3.1%
(Anon., 2003) to 3.6% of total land area (Khan, 2002)
•

3. • Agriculture and Forest: A 247,000-acre forest of
juniper trees, some of which are thousands of
years old, in Pakistan's southwest may soon vanish
because of the dearth of government conservation
efforts, and the felling of the trees by villagers
seeking fuel.
• Studies revealed that conifer forests have been
declining @ 1.27% per annum (Ahmad et al.,
2012). Yet Pakistan’s demands on its forests and
other natural resources are high. The population is
growing at 2.3% annually (Anon., 2002)

4. • Causes of Deforestration
• Research revealed that the population growth and
urbanization are amongst the root causes of deforestation.
Horticulture practices not only resulted in deforestation, it
also led to excavation of ground water. The heart rot fungus
attacked Juniper forest and partially decomposed litter is found
only under trees and bushes. Therefore,
appear to play an important role in
shaping the vegetationanthropogenic activities of the area
(Bazai et al., 2006).
British environmentalist Norman Myers believes that 5% of
deforestation is due to cattle ranching 19% due to overheavy
logging, 22% due to the growing sector of palm oil
plantations, and 54% due to slash-and-burn farming
(Hance, 2008). However, grazing is not very important
factor that affects the establishment and growth of young
re-growth in the forests.

5. • The forest near Ziarat district in Baluchistan,
Pakistan's largest and poorest province, is the
second-largest juniper forest in the world. Its
slow-growth trees are estimated to be up to
4,000 to 5,000 years old.

6. • The "most extensive and best-known
examples" of the juniperus excelsa species
"are found in Ziarat at an elevation ranging
from 1,980 to 3,350 meters (6,534 to 11,055
feet) above sea level," an International Union
for Conservation of Nature report states

7. • UNESCO has declared Ziarat's juniper forest a
"biosphere reserve," Pakistan's second, and
the United Nations has added the forest to the
World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

8. • "The juniper forests have suffered from
temperature rises and ongoing drought since
1994. Snowfall and rainfall patterns have
become irregular. Before the drought, snow
fell regularly in winter months," said Abdul
Raziq, a lecturer at Lasbela University of
Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences in
Quetta, the provincial capital.

9. • "Another reason is disease caused by the use
of banned sprays on nearby apple trees.
Pakistan is one of the few countries where
banned agriculture sprays are used," Raziq
said. "The juniper trees are drying out and
their smaller branches breaking down. The
reason of drying juniper trees is yet not
known. We sometimes call it juniper-cancer,"
he added.

10. • "We consider the life of a juniper tree as
precious as our own human lives. This juniper
forest needs special attention, especially in
regards to funding, and to finding a way to
stop them drying up," Shah Zaman Khan
(social activist said.

11. • Also indigenous to Ziarat are almond, wild
olive, ash and wild pistachio trees, and 54
plant species known for medicinal qualities,
the International Union for Conservation of
Nature has said.